00:00:00
Speaker 1: Welcome back. I'm Dale Allie. He is Matt Williamson, and this is the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio. And I met the thirty third team put out a story. This is written by Barry Wilner. Now I know Barry. Barry was the NFL beat writer, their national guy for the Associated Press for a number of years after Dave Goldberg retired. And Barry is a Hall of Fame voter as well, so he's steeped in the knowledge of this kind of stuff. And he put together each NFL team's best Hall of Famer.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Oh wow, okay, thirty third team.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: I thought that'd be an interesting conversation here, and well, we can, we can.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: Some of these teams is going to be a battle. Man.
00:00:39
Speaker 1: Wow, some of them it's not going to be too hard, but some of it are going to be tough, tough to look at. So let's go down through here. For the Arizona Cardinals, which is also Arizona Chicago and Saint Louis Cardinals. Charlie Trippy is Barry's pick.
00:00:56
Speaker 2: I'm reading it right now to figure out who he.
00:00:58
Speaker 1: Was as a rookie in the forties. I mean, the Cardinals have been around a lot longer than a lot. I think a lot of people realize not I mean, and not a great history.
00:01:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Larry set up to take this title pretty darn quick. So all no offense, mister trippy. But you know you're probably about the weakest of the thirty two up here.
00:01:22
Speaker 1: Well, we'll see the runners up Larry Wilson, Dan Diardorf, Kurt Warner, Ernie Nevers, and Olie Mattson. I'm kind of surprised the Neis Williams didn't get a mention on there too.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: Oh he's in right, yeah, he's I mean, I take him over most of those guys. Ian Deirdorf was strong though, for.
00:01:39
Speaker 1: The Atlanta Falcons to pick his Claude Humphrey.
00:01:43
Speaker 2: This isn't real strong either.
00:01:45
Speaker 1: Ninety nine and a half career sacks.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, thinking about on, but what team do you put the on on?
00:01:52
Speaker 1: You know, as I mean, he did most of his work with the you know, the biggest, the biggot well, but he spent most of his time with the Falcons.
00:02:01
Speaker 2: I know.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: Right after that it was kind of like mercenary de On Morton Anderson got to got a voter as running up Tony Gonzalez. Uh, Dion Sanders. With the runners up, they have again not a strong track record.
00:02:16
Speaker 2: No, no, no, I mean I guess Julio will surpass all those guys like Larry.
00:02:20
Speaker 1: Perhaps for the Baltimore Ravens it's Ray Lewis.
00:02:26
Speaker 2: I'm fine with that. But I think it's a three horse race with Ogden.
00:02:29
Speaker 1: And Reed, and those are the guys who are the two runners up.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and I could make its just a strong case for any of the three.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: For the Buffalo Bills, the pick is Bruce Smith.
00:02:40
Speaker 2: Okay, I think I would take him over the offensive dudes.
00:02:44
Speaker 1: The runners up O J. Simpson I was I didn't.
00:02:47
Speaker 2: Think of OJ. I was just thinking of the Jim Kelly.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, Famo and Thomas Jim Kelly, Joe Lamont, Lamelli or I can never pronounce that name. And Billy Shaw.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: Juice has a pretty strong Yeah, but it's tough.
00:03:01
Speaker 1: To say, Yeah, we're gonna vote for. O. J. Simpson is the number.
00:03:03
Speaker 2: I get it, I get it. Yeah, he's Hall of Fame.
00:03:07
Speaker 1: The Carolina Panthers, Sam Mills. Now, when I did the Hall of Fame vote a couple of years ago, Sam Mills was on the ballot. He was the only guy of the fifteen finalists that I looked at and said, yeah, I can't vote for that guy.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: I thought that initially too. When you listen to the case, did you change your tune or no?
00:03:32
Speaker 1: Like the case was, Oh, he's a he was the most productive little guy in NFL history. I don't care about that.
00:03:38
Speaker 2: That doesn't mean he's better than big guys.
00:03:40
Speaker 1: Right, he was a good player, yea. The problem is the runner up was Kevin Green and he only played there for two years.
00:03:48
Speaker 2: I did something Mills of Hall of Famer.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think so either, But it is.
00:03:53
Speaker 2: Peppers or Steve Smith could eclipse those guys pretty quickly. Yeah, not much to pick from.
00:03:59
Speaker 1: No, there's not a lot there.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: I would not have Mills in.
00:04:03
Speaker 1: For the Chicago Bears, the pick is Dick Buckis, who they got in the same draft as Gale Sayers after making a trade with the Steelers that was the last previously, the last time the Steelers traded their first round pick before they traded for Minka Fitzpatrick in nineteen sixty five, they dealt away their first round pick and the Bears took Dick Buckets and Gale Sayers back to back picks at five and six, I believe.
00:04:28
Speaker 2: I mean, they obviously have a lot of great history or a Lacker Singletary at linebacker. Dick Peyton versus Buckets, though, is really what this one comes down to to me, I mean, not having sweetness on theirs. I did it because Buckets has a strong case, but so does Walter.
00:04:44
Speaker 1: The other runners up were Peyton, Richard Dent, DoD Doug Atkins, Bronco Negersky, George Connor, Dan Fortman, Bulldog Turner, Joe Steidhar and Red Grange, Sid Luckman tight end, Mike Ditka, and Mike Singletary.
00:04:59
Speaker 2: It's a lot of runners up, a lot of runners up.
00:05:01
Speaker 1: But I mean a lot of those guys would have been number one some of the teams ahead of them here.
00:05:06
Speaker 2: No, you're right, most of them would have been in fact, you know, Arizona, in Atlanta and Carolina. But you can't tell me George Connor almost knocked off Dick Buckets.
00:05:19
Speaker 1: He's a runner up.
00:05:20
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess, I guess runner up doesn't mean just missed or yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker 1: But the Cincinnati Bengals, the pick is easy. It's Anthony Muno's and it's an easy pick because he's the only one in the Hall of Fame, although Ken Riley will join him there this year.
00:05:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, and even well, I mean, I don't know if AJ Green gets in or do you know Atkins. I was just gonna say.
00:05:39
Speaker 1: Geno Atkins will have a case. Yeah, yeah, I don't. I don't know if AJ Green makes it. There just wasn't receivers tough, and there just wasn't enough sustained greatness there.
00:05:52
Speaker 2: I don't know. Chad Johnson, I don't think ever gets in. I mean, Carson Palmer won't get in, so they're gonna have a wait, it might be Burrow and Chase they keep this up for ten more years.
00:06:03
Speaker 1: For the Cleveland Browns, it's Jim Brown.
00:06:06
Speaker 2: Easily, I would say.
00:06:08
Speaker 1: Yeah. The runners up were Geen Hickerson and lu Groza, Auto Graham, Ozzie Smith, Paul Warfield, Dante Lavelli, Frank Gatsy, and Bill Willison Linford.
00:06:21
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure Auto Graham is a really strong case. But I think Jim Brown's the best back.
00:06:25
Speaker 1: Of Jim Brown's good. Yeah, he's for the Cowboys. He went with Emmett Smith.
00:06:33
Speaker 2: All time rushing leaders A nice thing to have on the resume.
00:06:36
Speaker 1: You know it is it is the guys that he was picked over, Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, Bob Lily, Randy White, Larry Allen, Tony Dorsett, My mel renfro.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: Staubaucht and Lily, to me would probably be what I came down to if I had to pick one.
00:06:55
Speaker 1: They're very good. Randy White was very good as well. I mean those guys are good, good football player.
00:07:00
Speaker 2: Yeah. Story team.
00:07:03
Speaker 1: For the Denver Broncos, John Elway is the pick.
00:07:07
Speaker 2: Surprisingly not much competition. I mean he's an easy slam dunk. Denver's been around a long time to not have prominent Hall of famers.
00:07:15
Speaker 1: Yeah. Floyd Little, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharp, and Gary Zimmerman were the other contenders.
00:07:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then they're nowhere close.
00:07:24
Speaker 1: For the Lions, Barry Sanders.
00:07:28
Speaker 2: No argument here. Calvin Johnson would be my two, but Barry.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: Yeah. The runners up former Steeler Bobby Lane, Dutch Clark Knight, Train, Lane, Lem Barney el Larry Jack Christiansen, Joe Schmidt, and Calvin Johnson.
00:07:45
Speaker 2: Tickle Bows also in didn't get the runner up.
00:07:48
Speaker 1: Didn't get the runner up. Yeah, he played in that same secondary as Knight, Train Lane, Lem Barney, and the El Larry. That's a pretty good check. Like all four of them were in the Hall of Fame.
00:07:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I thought it was a big deal. Like when the U would have four defensive backs draft in the same draft. How about four Hall of Famers in the same team. I'm the same secondary for the Packers.
00:08:10
Speaker 1: Don Hudson gets the nod. I don't have a problem with that.
00:08:14
Speaker 2: I would say I've been a little hard on the writer that he's been a little too kind to the old old dudes. But Hudson is legendary. I mean you talk about it's my babe Ruth comparison, like, way better than anyone of his era, Like nine close.
00:08:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. In seven of his eleven seasons he led the NFL in receiving nine times. He topped the league in touchdown catches. He was a six time All Pro All Decade Team of the thirties. Of the thirties, he was, he was putting up these kind of numbers. In nineteen forty two he had seventy four catches for twelve hundred eleven yards and seventeen touchdowns. This is in the forties.
00:08:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the ball is like a brick. It doesn't even have points on the end.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: And he played in Green Bay.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: Green Bay, they probably threw six to ten times a game. Yeah, I mean, how many were there?
00:09:07
Speaker 1: Everybody knew he was getting the ball and they couldn't stop him.
00:09:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he might be the best receiver ever. With all respect to Jerry Rice, you know what I mean, just ver Firsus what he played against?
00:09:17
Speaker 1: Uh, the other run the runners up obviously a very good list. He got Bart Starr, Brett Faarr, Paul Hornick, Jim Taylor, Tony Canto, Canadio. I should say Ray Nitchkey, Willow Davis, Reggie White, Clark Hinkle, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Jim Ringo, James Lofton, Willie would Her, Beverly Leroy Butler. Lowie Butler doesn't belong on that list. I'm sorry.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: I mean some of the older guys that I can't comment on. But Butler's not well.
00:09:44
Speaker 1: He said he deserves consideration simply for inventing the Lambeau leap. Okay, all right, the Baltimore Indianapolis Colts. This one I have an issue with.
00:09:57
Speaker 2: I think it's a two horse race.
00:09:58
Speaker 1: He is Peyton Manning as a guy. If you're going to consider this the Baltimore Indianapolis Colts, Johnny Unitis has to be the pick.
00:10:05
Speaker 2: I agree. I mean Manning would be on nine out of ten teams first guy, but this one I would give the slight nod to the other quarterback.
00:10:13
Speaker 1: I mean Johnny Unitis for the first oh, I don't know. Forty years of the NFL, thirty at least thirty was considered the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
00:10:24
Speaker 2: Yes, I remember, I was a kid, but I remember there started to be a discussion with Montana after Montana on his third is he better than Uniteds? We finally have a quarterback better than Uniteds? That was the consensus. It's a long time to be the king.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, the wide receiver. I'm sorry. The other runners up in addition to Uniteds Raymond Barry, Marvin Harrison, John Mackie, Lennymore, Jim Parker, Gino Marchetti, and Art Donovan. That's a strong list.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: There's a strong list. Yeah, real good group, no doubt.
00:10:55
Speaker 1: The Jaguar, Yeah right, the Jacksonville Jaguars. It's Tony Baseli's the only one that they have that's that's a pretty week.
00:11:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, and with all respect to Tony, he barely got into It took him a while.
00:11:08
Speaker 1: It took him a while because he really only played five seasons.
00:11:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he's the only only got.
00:11:15
Speaker 1: For the Kansas City Chiefs.
00:11:17
Speaker 2: It is Willy Lanier, Okay, I mean I do think it will be my home, you know.
00:11:24
Speaker 1: But now, Yeah, Lanier made the Pro Bowl in eight of his eleven seasons. I mean, he was a really good football player. The runners up Bobby Bell, Derek Thomas. Derek Thomas should maybe get some consideration there, but Buchanan another good football player, Emma Thomas, John Robinson, Jean Stenerude, Now he can't put John center Rude on there. And Tony Gonzalez.
00:11:46
Speaker 2: I might have went with Gonzalez.
00:11:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's recency bias, and very much so. For the Raiders, it's Gene Upshaw.
00:12:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I guess it's I'm not picking on the Raiders because they have a great history too. But for as great as their history is, they don't.
00:12:11
Speaker 1: Have they don't have as many championship they have more. There are more Raiders from the seventies in the in the Pro Football Hall of fame than there are Steelers.
00:12:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, and again this is really being far, far too critical. But Mike Lombardi, who I have a lot of respect for writing a book right now, and he's tiering the Hall of Famers. I don't know that the Raiders have a Tier one guy.
00:12:33
Speaker 1: Maybe so Upshaw. You got Art Shell, Jim Otto, Ray Guy, Marcus Allen, Mike Haymes, Willu Brown, Ted Hendricks, and Tim Brown. And for a blitni cough, it's a great list.
00:12:46
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like I'm ripping on the Raiders. But there's not a no Brainer.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: Or the Rams. It's Deacon Jones.
00:12:55
Speaker 2: Oh, I like that. Wouldn't have thought of that my head, But I like that.
00:12:59
Speaker 1: I mean Econ Jones was a bad man, as bad as they come. He invented the he actually invented the sack. Yeah, yeah, that's that in itself. Get you, you know, you should be on the list. The estimates on his sacks for his career was one hundred and seventy three and a half h And they went back and looked at all a pro football focused or referenced, went back and looked at all the tape, and that's what they came up with he may have had more than that, you know he game they did not, and his head slap would knock a guy's head off. I really, you can't do that stuff today. But my goodness, Uh, the other guys get this is another team that that has a bunch of guys Lroy Hirsch, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Falk, Merlin Olsen, Tom Fears, Jackie Slater, Orlando Pace, Bob Waterfield and Norm van Brocklin. That's a solid list.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: It's a ali list. I mean, Pace is a stud I mean the old timers. I know this is blasphemous on you know, sn R will tell you that the line was as good as the Joe Green d line. I mean Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones. I mean that that was ridiculously good.
00:14:17
Speaker 1: The Chargers, the pick is Lance Allworth.
00:14:22
Speaker 2: He's almost the Hudson argument.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: It's it's very similar.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it was the a f L. But still he was pretty special.
00:14:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. The runners up Junior se Al, La, Damian Tomlinson, Dan Faults, Charlie Joyner and Kellen Winslow.
00:14:39
Speaker 2: Not bad group, yeah, yeah, not bad at all. Flashy.
00:14:43
Speaker 1: Uh. For the Dolphins, it's Dan Marinoe. The runners up Larry Zonka, Larry Little, Dwight Stevenson, Nick Buonacatti, Paul Warfield, and Jason Taylor.
00:14:56
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think Marino runs away with it. It's a good group, but it's not a great group.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: Yeah. For the Vikings, it's Alan Page.
00:15:06
Speaker 2: Who doesn't I mean he's Joe Green esque. Yeah. Uh yeah.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: The other guys on their runner up list Fran Tarkenton, Paul Krauss, John Randall, Carl Eller, Ron Yary and Randy Moss.
00:15:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, Moss would be the only one not even consider over Page.
00:15:28
Speaker 1: Were the Patriots, it's John Hannah for now. For now.
00:15:34
Speaker 2: Uh.
00:15:34
Speaker 1: The runners up Richard Seymour and ty law Andre Tippett. He says Andre tippetto was regarded as a Lawrence Taylor clone by some. Remember that those some are nuts.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: He was by he like a Derek Brooks, much like Taylor was called a linebacker and rushed the passer like crazy, and that was kind of new back in the eighties.
00:15:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it good as lt no.
00:16:01
Speaker 2: But real quick on like this, Hannah reminds me of Munio's a little bit, because when you said unitis was widely regarded as the best quarterback. I thought about when I was ten years old, Munyo's and Hannah were considered the best guard and tackle ever, you know, correct?
00:16:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, right. For the Saints it's Willie Rofe.
00:16:22
Speaker 2: I would imagine Drew Brees will bump him off, but that's fine. Seasons.
00:16:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, the runners up Sam Mills who made it as as well. For the Panthers, Morton Anderson and Ricky Jackson.
00:16:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's a lot of years of being a franchise to not have more representation or better representation in the hall.
00:16:42
Speaker 1: Yeah. For the Giants it is Lawrence Taylor.
00:16:46
Speaker 2: Good long list of others, but yes.
00:16:49
Speaker 1: This is a good list too. Listen to this list. Harry Carson, uh, Sam Huff, Frank Gifford, Rosie Brown, Steve Owen, Melheine, Andy Robisselli, Michael stra and Emlyn Tunnel, Franz Tarkanden.
00:17:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you would think. I mean, they've been pretty darn successful for much longer than my lifetime.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: How about this one for the New York Jets, Curtis Martin.
00:17:16
Speaker 2: I'm shocked it's not name it, but give Martin some credit. I mean, lasted a lot longer.
00:17:23
Speaker 1: Uh, Nameth and Don Maynard, along with Joe Cleco, who goes into August.
00:17:28
Speaker 2: I didn't.
00:17:29
Speaker 1: I don't think Joe Clecko is a Hall of Famer. But that's that just kind of tells you where the Jets are at in terms of their franchise.
00:17:35
Speaker 2: And I hate to say it, but this exercise is also showing me more than I even suspected or wre worried that the Hall of Fame has been watered down a little bit, well a little bit, you know, the Cleco's of the world just don't belong.
00:17:48
Speaker 1: The Philadelphia Eagles, the pick is Chuck bed Ne Erick.
00:17:52
Speaker 2: H Okay. I immediately thought Reggie White, but he didn't. Wasn't there all that long? You know?
00:17:58
Speaker 1: Yeah? The others runners up Steve Van Buren, Reggie White, Brian Dawkins, Pete Piehouse, and Harold Carmichael.
00:18:08
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, there too.
00:18:10
Speaker 1: Not as good as you'd think it would be for a team that's been around all that long.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: That's true. I mean what they've been around seventy some years and that's all you got. It's not that great.
00:18:20
Speaker 1: We're up to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
00:18:22
Speaker 2: Now.
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Barry's pick is Joe Green.
00:18:27
Speaker 2: I think it has to be. Yeah, I mean their runners up are the best I've seen yet.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: But here's what he says there about the runners up, take a deep breath defense first, Jack Lambert and Jack ham Mel Blunt and Rod Woodson, Ernie Stautner, Troy Paulamalo and Donnie Shell For on the offensive side of things, Terry Bradshaw, who will we joined in four years by Ben Roethlisberger, frank O Harrison, Jerome Bettis, John Stalwart and Linn Swann, DERMANI Dawson and Mike Webster and Allen Fanica.
00:18:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's ridiculous. And someday, if we're bored, we should do an all twenty two all time Steeler team. But I don't think any of the other franchises are even in the same ballpark.
00:19:11
Speaker 1: It would be very difficult to be.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: I mean, Blunton Woodson at your corners, you know what I mean, that's insane. Yeah, Camon Green would be your d tackles.
00:19:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, who's playing center?
00:19:27
Speaker 2: Dirt came up as a guard. Maybe we'll cheat, yeah, right, But I mean, even like the Castro and Fanica are your guards, i'd imagine, I mean, they're not, You're not gonna have twenty two Hall of Famers, but your quote weaknesses are still really really good players.
00:19:43
Speaker 1: Yeah. For the forty nine ers, it's Cherry Rice. It has to be.
00:19:48
Speaker 2: It has to be, I guess. I mean it's kind of like lt amazing that he's on the list.
00:19:54
Speaker 1: But you know, the runner up in Montana Steve Young, Wayne Tittle, Joe Perry, and Hugh mclahaney at running back, Ronnie Lott and Jimmy Johnson at the cornerbacks, defensive tackle Leo Noamanelli and offensive tackle Bob Saint Claire.
00:20:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you got Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana, Steve Young, you know. I mean there's some great ones. There's some greatness.
00:20:16
Speaker 1: There were the Seattle Seahawks at Steve Largent.
00:20:21
Speaker 2: I respect that. That's cool. I would have taken Walter Jones, but it's a little bit of recency biased.
00:20:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's one of the runners up, as is defensive tackle Quartes Kennedy.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean they were an expansion team when I was six, so it's not like they're new, right. Ump out another one or two, you know.
00:20:38
Speaker 1: Or the tap Speaking of expansion teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers their Picks, Leroy Selman.
00:20:46
Speaker 2: I like the respect of Largent and Selman. You know, those teams were bad and took a while to get on get your feet at that point. Selman was a tremendous player.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: I will sap and this is now my problem with this. So the runners up are Derek Brooks, John Lynch, Ronde Barber, and Warren Sap m h. Four guys off the same defense that won one Super Bowl.
00:21:10
Speaker 2: I know, Like again, I think Brooks and Sapp are Hall of famers all day long. I don't think Lynch and Barber are.
00:21:18
Speaker 1: I would agree. I don't think they are either.
00:21:21
Speaker 2: And the fact that of honor and they're great, YadA YadA.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: But the fact that that defense has four Hall of famers, you know, and the you know, even this, the Steelers defense of the you know, early to mid two thousands has won.
00:21:38
Speaker 2: By the mid two thousands, I was like Steel Curtain only had five.
00:21:42
Speaker 1: Yeah. That Ravens defense of the early two thousand has two. Wow, you know, I mean those were those were defenses that were equal to or better than that Buccaneers defense. And Tampa Bay has four.
00:21:59
Speaker 2: Yeah. And the defense didn't last either. I mean it wasn't eight years of greatness, right, I mean, those players had nice long careers, but there was not an elite defense for you know, a decade. No, I'm with you, yeah, I mean, I know these are the cream of the crop. But Ronde Barber is a lot different than me than woodsent Er.
00:22:17
Speaker 1: Blunt well, without a doubt, without a doubt. For the Titans slash Oilers, to pick is is Earl Campbell.
00:22:27
Speaker 2: Good.
00:22:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've had some other guys though. They have the runners up Bruce Matthews, Mike Munchak, Kevin and why the quarterbacks Warren Moon and George Blanda, Ken Houston, Alvin Bethea, Curly Culp, Robert Brazil. No championships among those guys.
00:22:49
Speaker 2: No championships. Campbell's pretty strong. I mean it's kind of like the Juice conversation too, of just dominant seventies backs. Yeah, Frank and Walter and those guys.
00:23:00
Speaker 1: And for the Washington Commanders, the pick is slinging Sammy Baugh.
00:23:06
Speaker 2: I guess yeah, I mean I was thinking Darryl Green, but Bob probably was the better career and the better position, you know. Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker 1: He led the league in completion perchance percentage eight times in completion six times, in yards per game five times.
00:23:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's pretty strong.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. Plus he played, He played defense and led the league with eleven interceptions in nineteen forty three. Oh by the way, oh Jackson.
00:23:31
Speaker 2: Picking up baseball, you know, and I'm gonna pick off eleven.
00:23:34
Speaker 1: Passes and Andy led the league in punting five times.
00:23:39
Speaker 2: Oh, oh, by the way, never left the gold that's crazy.
00:23:45
Speaker 1: The runners up John Riggins, Darryl Green, Sam Huff, Sam Huff was pretty dominant, Russ Grimm, Turk Edwards, Charlie Taylor, Bobby Mitchell, and Art Monk.
00:23:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. Pretty good group, not great, Pretty good group, pretty good. Last nugget on this. I know we're gonna go roll, but behind me in my basement bathroom is the nineteen seventy eight Steelers team photo. You know how. They do it at three rivers in front of the scoreboard and a couple of lights are out on the scoreboard. So everyone on that team is there, And there are twelve Hall of Famers in that picture. And that doesn't even include the Rooneyes who're not on there, you know, I mean there's two Roonies working for the team at that point that ended up in the Hall of Fame, and that includes Chuck Noll.
00:24:30
Speaker 1: He also left out Bill Nunn.
00:24:32
Speaker 2: Oh right, right, good point. He would not have been that photo either. One that I'm kind of cheating but is a Hall of Famer. He's on that photo. Is Tony Dungeye right, yeah, yeah, there's a dozen in the picture.
00:24:44
Speaker 1: Not bad, not bad, not right considering, especially considering some franchises only have one or two guys.
00:24:51
Speaker 2: So one and one's in the division only as one. We're yeah, just skipped right over Houston. You got none the Titans.
00:25:04
Speaker 1: Yeah sorry, yeah, yeah, right, We're gonna take a break. He is Matt Williamson. I am dal Lawlly. You're listening to the drive here on Steelers Nation Radio. When we come back, Matt, since it is Friday, it's time for a little Friday fantasy football Monday here, So let's do that. We'll do a little mock draft when we come back.
00:25:23
Speaker 2: I like that. You like that?
00:25:25
Speaker 1: All right, we'll do that when we come back. He is Matt Williams, and I'm dal Lawi. You're listening to the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. I'm Dale Allie. He is Matt Williamson, and this is the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio. And I met the thirty third team put out a story. This is written by Barry Wilner. Now I know Barry. Barry was the NFL beat writer, their national guy for the Associated Press for a number of years after Dave Goldberg retired. And Barry is a Hall of Fame voter as well, so he's steeped in the knowledge of this kind of stuff. And he put together each NFL team's best Hall of Famer.
00:00:31
Speaker 2: Oh wow, okay, thirty third team.
00:00:32
Speaker 1: I thought that'd be an interesting conversation here, and well, we can, we can.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: Some of these teams is going to be a battle. Man.
00:00:39
Speaker 1: Wow, some of them it's not going to be too hard, but some of it are going to be tough, tough to look at. So let's go down through here. For the Arizona Cardinals, which is also Arizona Chicago and Saint Louis Cardinals. Charlie Trippy is Barry's pick.
00:00:56
Speaker 2: I'm reading it right now to figure out who he.
00:00:58
Speaker 1: Was as a rookie in the forties. I mean, the Cardinals have been around a lot longer than a lot. I think a lot of people realize not I mean, and not a great history.
00:01:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Larry set up to take this title pretty darn quick. So all no offense, mister trippy. But you know you're probably about the weakest of the thirty two up here.
00:01:22
Speaker 1: Well, we'll see the runners up Larry Wilson, Dan Diardorf, Kurt Warner, Ernie Nevers, and Olie Mattson. I'm kind of surprised the Neis Williams didn't get a mention on there too.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: Oh he's in right, yeah, he's I mean, I take him over most of those guys. Ian Deirdorf was strong though, for.
00:01:39
Speaker 1: The Atlanta Falcons to pick his Claude Humphrey.
00:01:43
Speaker 2: This isn't real strong either.
00:01:45
Speaker 1: Ninety nine and a half career sacks.
00:01:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, thinking about on, but what team do you put the on on?
00:01:52
Speaker 1: You know, as I mean, he did most of his work with the you know, the biggest, the biggot well, but he spent most of his time with the Falcons.
00:02:01
Speaker 2: I know.
00:02:01
Speaker 1: Right after that it was kind of like mercenary de On Morton Anderson got to got a voter as running up Tony Gonzalez. Uh, Dion Sanders. With the runners up, they have again not a strong track record.
00:02:16
Speaker 2: No, no, no, I mean I guess Julio will surpass all those guys like Larry.
00:02:20
Speaker 1: Perhaps for the Baltimore Ravens it's Ray Lewis.
00:02:26
Speaker 2: I'm fine with that. But I think it's a three horse race with Ogden.
00:02:29
Speaker 1: And Reed, and those are the guys who are the two runners up.
00:02:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and I could make its just a strong case for any of the three.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: For the Buffalo Bills, the pick is Bruce Smith.
00:02:40
Speaker 2: Okay, I think I would take him over the offensive dudes.
00:02:44
Speaker 1: The runners up O J. Simpson I was I didn't.
00:02:47
Speaker 2: Think of OJ. I was just thinking of the Jim Kelly.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, Famo and Thomas Jim Kelly, Joe Lamont, Lamelli or I can never pronounce that name. And Billy Shaw.
00:02:58
Speaker 2: Juice has a pretty strong Yeah, but it's tough.
00:03:01
Speaker 1: To say, Yeah, we're gonna vote for. O. J. Simpson is the number.
00:03:03
Speaker 2: I get it, I get it. Yeah, he's Hall of Fame.
00:03:07
Speaker 1: The Carolina Panthers, Sam Mills. Now, when I did the Hall of Fame vote a couple of years ago, Sam Mills was on the ballot. He was the only guy of the fifteen finalists that I looked at and said, yeah, I can't vote for that guy.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: I thought that initially too. When you listen to the case, did you change your tune or no?
00:03:32
Speaker 1: Like the case was, Oh, he's a he was the most productive little guy in NFL history. I don't care about that.
00:03:38
Speaker 2: That doesn't mean he's better than big guys.
00:03:40
Speaker 1: Right, he was a good player, yea. The problem is the runner up was Kevin Green and he only played there for two years.
00:03:48
Speaker 2: I did something Mills of Hall of Famer.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think so either, But it is.
00:03:53
Speaker 2: Peppers or Steve Smith could eclipse those guys pretty quickly. Yeah, not much to pick from.
00:03:59
Speaker 1: No, there's not a lot there.
00:04:02
Speaker 2: I would not have Mills in.
00:04:03
Speaker 1: For the Chicago Bears, the pick is Dick Buckis, who they got in the same draft as Gale Sayers after making a trade with the Steelers that was the last previously, the last time the Steelers traded their first round pick before they traded for Minka Fitzpatrick in nineteen sixty five, they dealt away their first round pick and the Bears took Dick Buckets and Gale Sayers back to back picks at five and six, I believe.
00:04:28
Speaker 2: I mean, they obviously have a lot of great history or a Lacker Singletary at linebacker. Dick Peyton versus Buckets, though, is really what this one comes down to to me, I mean, not having sweetness on theirs. I did it because Buckets has a strong case, but so does Walter.
00:04:44
Speaker 1: The other runners up were Peyton, Richard Dent, DoD Doug Atkins, Bronco Negersky, George Connor, Dan Fortman, Bulldog Turner, Joe Steidhar and Red Grange, Sid Luckman tight end, Mike Ditka, and Mike Singletary.
00:04:59
Speaker 2: It's a lot of runners up, a lot of runners up.
00:05:01
Speaker 1: But I mean a lot of those guys would have been number one some of the teams ahead of them here.
00:05:06
Speaker 2: No, you're right, most of them would have been in fact, you know, Arizona, in Atlanta and Carolina. But you can't tell me George Connor almost knocked off Dick Buckets.
00:05:19
Speaker 1: He's a runner up.
00:05:20
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess, I guess runner up doesn't mean just missed or yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker 1: But the Cincinnati Bengals, the pick is easy. It's Anthony Muno's and it's an easy pick because he's the only one in the Hall of Fame, although Ken Riley will join him there this year.
00:05:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, and even well, I mean, I don't know if AJ Green gets in or do you know Atkins. I was just gonna say.
00:05:39
Speaker 1: Geno Atkins will have a case. Yeah, yeah, I don't. I don't know if AJ Green makes it. There just wasn't receivers tough, and there just wasn't enough sustained greatness there.
00:05:52
Speaker 2: I don't know. Chad Johnson, I don't think ever gets in. I mean, Carson Palmer won't get in, so they're gonna have a wait, it might be Burrow and Chase they keep this up for ten more years.
00:06:03
Speaker 1: For the Cleveland Browns, it's Jim Brown.
00:06:06
Speaker 2: Easily, I would say.
00:06:08
Speaker 1: Yeah. The runners up were Geen Hickerson and lu Groza, Auto Graham, Ozzie Smith, Paul Warfield, Dante Lavelli, Frank Gatsy, and Bill Willison Linford.
00:06:21
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure Auto Graham is a really strong case. But I think Jim Brown's the best back.
00:06:25
Speaker 1: Of Jim Brown's good. Yeah, he's for the Cowboys. He went with Emmett Smith.
00:06:33
Speaker 2: All time rushing leaders A nice thing to have on the resume.
00:06:36
Speaker 1: You know it is it is the guys that he was picked over, Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, Bob Lily, Randy White, Larry Allen, Tony Dorsett, My mel renfro.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: Staubaucht and Lily, to me would probably be what I came down to if I had to pick one.
00:06:55
Speaker 1: They're very good. Randy White was very good as well. I mean those guys are good, good football player.
00:07:00
Speaker 2: Yeah. Story team.
00:07:03
Speaker 1: For the Denver Broncos, John Elway is the pick.
00:07:07
Speaker 2: Surprisingly not much competition. I mean he's an easy slam dunk. Denver's been around a long time to not have prominent Hall of famers.
00:07:15
Speaker 1: Yeah. Floyd Little, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharp, and Gary Zimmerman were the other contenders.
00:07:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then they're nowhere close.
00:07:24
Speaker 1: For the Lions, Barry Sanders.
00:07:28
Speaker 2: No argument here. Calvin Johnson would be my two, but Barry.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: Yeah. The runners up former Steeler Bobby Lane, Dutch Clark Knight, Train, Lane, Lem Barney el Larry Jack Christiansen, Joe Schmidt, and Calvin Johnson.
00:07:45
Speaker 2: Tickle Bows also in didn't get the runner up.
00:07:48
Speaker 1: Didn't get the runner up. Yeah, he played in that same secondary as Knight, Train Lane, Lem Barney, and the El Larry. That's a pretty good check. Like all four of them were in the Hall of Fame.
00:07:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I thought it was a big deal. Like when the U would have four defensive backs draft in the same draft. How about four Hall of Famers in the same team. I'm the same secondary for the Packers.
00:08:10
Speaker 1: Don Hudson gets the nod. I don't have a problem with that.
00:08:14
Speaker 2: I would say I've been a little hard on the writer that he's been a little too kind to the old old dudes. But Hudson is legendary. I mean you talk about it's my babe Ruth comparison, like, way better than anyone of his era, Like nine close.
00:08:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. In seven of his eleven seasons he led the NFL in receiving nine times. He topped the league in touchdown catches. He was a six time All Pro All Decade Team of the thirties. Of the thirties, he was, he was putting up these kind of numbers. In nineteen forty two he had seventy four catches for twelve hundred eleven yards and seventeen touchdowns. This is in the forties.
00:08:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the ball is like a brick. It doesn't even have points on the end.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: And he played in Green Bay.
00:09:00
Speaker 2: Green Bay, they probably threw six to ten times a game. Yeah, I mean, how many were there?
00:09:07
Speaker 1: Everybody knew he was getting the ball and they couldn't stop him.
00:09:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he might be the best receiver ever. With all respect to Jerry Rice, you know what I mean, just ver Firsus what he played against?
00:09:17
Speaker 1: Uh, the other run the runners up obviously a very good list. He got Bart Starr, Brett Faarr, Paul Hornick, Jim Taylor, Tony Canto, Canadio. I should say Ray Nitchkey, Willow Davis, Reggie White, Clark Hinkle, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Jim Ringo, James Lofton, Willie would Her, Beverly Leroy Butler. Lowie Butler doesn't belong on that list. I'm sorry.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: I mean some of the older guys that I can't comment on. But Butler's not well.
00:09:44
Speaker 1: He said he deserves consideration simply for inventing the Lambeau leap. Okay, all right, the Baltimore Indianapolis Colts. This one I have an issue with.
00:09:57
Speaker 2: I think it's a two horse race.
00:09:58
Speaker 1: He is Peyton Manning as a guy. If you're going to consider this the Baltimore Indianapolis Colts, Johnny Unitis has to be the pick.
00:10:05
Speaker 2: I agree. I mean Manning would be on nine out of ten teams first guy, but this one I would give the slight nod to the other quarterback.
00:10:13
Speaker 1: I mean Johnny Unitis for the first oh, I don't know. Forty years of the NFL, thirty at least thirty was considered the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
00:10:24
Speaker 2: Yes, I remember, I was a kid, but I remember there started to be a discussion with Montana after Montana on his third is he better than Uniteds? We finally have a quarterback better than Uniteds? That was the consensus. It's a long time to be the king.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, the wide receiver. I'm sorry. The other runners up in addition to Uniteds Raymond Barry, Marvin Harrison, John Mackie, Lennymore, Jim Parker, Gino Marchetti, and Art Donovan. That's a strong list.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: There's a strong list. Yeah, real good group, no doubt.
00:10:55
Speaker 1: The Jaguar, Yeah right, the Jacksonville Jaguars. It's Tony Baseli's the only one that they have that's that's a pretty week.
00:11:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, and with all respect to Tony, he barely got into It took him a while.
00:11:08
Speaker 1: It took him a while because he really only played five seasons.
00:11:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he's the only only got.
00:11:15
Speaker 1: For the Kansas City Chiefs.
00:11:17
Speaker 2: It is Willy Lanier, Okay, I mean I do think it will be my home, you know.
00:11:24
Speaker 1: But now, Yeah, Lanier made the Pro Bowl in eight of his eleven seasons. I mean, he was a really good football player. The runners up Bobby Bell, Derek Thomas. Derek Thomas should maybe get some consideration there, but Buchanan another good football player, Emma Thomas, John Robinson, Jean Stenerude, Now he can't put John center Rude on there. And Tony Gonzalez.
00:11:46
Speaker 2: I might have went with Gonzalez.
00:11:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's recency bias, and very much so. For the Raiders, it's Gene Upshaw.
00:12:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I guess it's I'm not picking on the Raiders because they have a great history too. But for as great as their history is, they don't.
00:12:11
Speaker 1: Have they don't have as many championship they have more. There are more Raiders from the seventies in the in the Pro Football Hall of fame than there are Steelers.
00:12:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, and again this is really being far, far too critical. But Mike Lombardi, who I have a lot of respect for writing a book right now, and he's tiering the Hall of Famers. I don't know that the Raiders have a Tier one guy.
00:12:33
Speaker 1: Maybe so Upshaw. You got Art Shell, Jim Otto, Ray Guy, Marcus Allen, Mike Haymes, Willu Brown, Ted Hendricks, and Tim Brown. And for a blitni cough, it's a great list.
00:12:46
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like I'm ripping on the Raiders. But there's not a no Brainer.
00:12:51
Speaker 1: Or the Rams. It's Deacon Jones.
00:12:55
Speaker 2: Oh, I like that. Wouldn't have thought of that my head, But I like that.
00:12:59
Speaker 1: I mean Econ Jones was a bad man, as bad as they come. He invented the he actually invented the sack. Yeah, yeah, that's that in itself. Get you, you know, you should be on the list. The estimates on his sacks for his career was one hundred and seventy three and a half h And they went back and looked at all a pro football focused or referenced, went back and looked at all the tape, and that's what they came up with he may have had more than that, you know he game they did not, and his head slap would knock a guy's head off. I really, you can't do that stuff today. But my goodness, Uh, the other guys get this is another team that that has a bunch of guys Lroy Hirsch, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Falk, Merlin Olsen, Tom Fears, Jackie Slater, Orlando Pace, Bob Waterfield and Norm van Brocklin. That's a solid list.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: It's a ali list. I mean, Pace is a stud I mean the old timers. I know this is blasphemous on you know, sn R will tell you that the line was as good as the Joe Green d line. I mean Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones. I mean that that was ridiculously good.
00:14:17
Speaker 1: The Chargers, the pick is Lance Allworth.
00:14:22
Speaker 2: He's almost the Hudson argument.
00:14:24
Speaker 1: It's it's very similar.
00:14:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it was the a f L. But still he was pretty special.
00:14:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. The runners up Junior se Al, La, Damian Tomlinson, Dan Faults, Charlie Joyner and Kellen Winslow.
00:14:39
Speaker 2: Not bad group, yeah, yeah, not bad at all. Flashy.
00:14:43
Speaker 1: Uh. For the Dolphins, it's Dan Marinoe. The runners up Larry Zonka, Larry Little, Dwight Stevenson, Nick Buonacatti, Paul Warfield, and Jason Taylor.
00:14:56
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think Marino runs away with it. It's a good group, but it's not a great group.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: Yeah. For the Vikings, it's Alan Page.
00:15:06
Speaker 2: Who doesn't I mean he's Joe Green esque. Yeah. Uh yeah.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: The other guys on their runner up list Fran Tarkenton, Paul Krauss, John Randall, Carl Eller, Ron Yary and Randy Moss.
00:15:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, Moss would be the only one not even consider over Page.
00:15:28
Speaker 1: Were the Patriots, it's John Hannah for now. For now.
00:15:34
Speaker 2: Uh.
00:15:34
Speaker 1: The runners up Richard Seymour and ty law Andre Tippett. He says Andre tippetto was regarded as a Lawrence Taylor clone by some. Remember that those some are nuts.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: He was by he like a Derek Brooks, much like Taylor was called a linebacker and rushed the passer like crazy, and that was kind of new back in the eighties.
00:15:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it good as lt no.
00:16:01
Speaker 2: But real quick on like this, Hannah reminds me of Munio's a little bit, because when you said unitis was widely regarded as the best quarterback. I thought about when I was ten years old, Munyo's and Hannah were considered the best guard and tackle ever, you know, correct?
00:16:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, right. For the Saints it's Willie Rofe.
00:16:22
Speaker 2: I would imagine Drew Brees will bump him off, but that's fine. Seasons.
00:16:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, the runners up Sam Mills who made it as as well. For the Panthers, Morton Anderson and Ricky Jackson.
00:16:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's a lot of years of being a franchise to not have more representation or better representation in the hall.
00:16:42
Speaker 1: Yeah. For the Giants it is Lawrence Taylor.
00:16:46
Speaker 2: Good long list of others, but yes.
00:16:49
Speaker 1: This is a good list too. Listen to this list. Harry Carson, uh, Sam Huff, Frank Gifford, Rosie Brown, Steve Owen, Melheine, Andy Robisselli, Michael stra and Emlyn Tunnel, Franz Tarkanden.
00:17:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you would think. I mean, they've been pretty darn successful for much longer than my lifetime.
00:17:10
Speaker 1: How about this one for the New York Jets, Curtis Martin.
00:17:16
Speaker 2: I'm shocked it's not name it, but give Martin some credit. I mean, lasted a lot longer.
00:17:23
Speaker 1: Uh, Nameth and Don Maynard, along with Joe Cleco, who goes into August.
00:17:28
Speaker 2: I didn't.
00:17:29
Speaker 1: I don't think Joe Clecko is a Hall of Famer. But that's that just kind of tells you where the Jets are at in terms of their franchise.
00:17:35
Speaker 2: And I hate to say it, but this exercise is also showing me more than I even suspected or wre worried that the Hall of Fame has been watered down a little bit, well a little bit, you know, the Cleco's of the world just don't belong.
00:17:48
Speaker 1: The Philadelphia Eagles, the pick is Chuck bed Ne Erick.
00:17:52
Speaker 2: H Okay. I immediately thought Reggie White, but he didn't. Wasn't there all that long? You know?
00:17:58
Speaker 1: Yeah? The others runners up Steve Van Buren, Reggie White, Brian Dawkins, Pete Piehouse, and Harold Carmichael.
00:18:08
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, there too.
00:18:10
Speaker 1: Not as good as you'd think it would be for a team that's been around all that long.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: That's true. I mean what they've been around seventy some years and that's all you got. It's not that great.
00:18:20
Speaker 1: We're up to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
00:18:22
Speaker 2: Now.
00:18:24
Speaker 1: Barry's pick is Joe Green.
00:18:27
Speaker 2: I think it has to be. Yeah, I mean their runners up are the best I've seen yet.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: But here's what he says there about the runners up, take a deep breath defense first, Jack Lambert and Jack ham Mel Blunt and Rod Woodson, Ernie Stautner, Troy Paulamalo and Donnie Shell For on the offensive side of things, Terry Bradshaw, who will we joined in four years by Ben Roethlisberger, frank O Harrison, Jerome Bettis, John Stalwart and Linn Swann, DERMANI Dawson and Mike Webster and Allen Fanica.
00:18:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's ridiculous. And someday, if we're bored, we should do an all twenty two all time Steeler team. But I don't think any of the other franchises are even in the same ballpark.
00:19:11
Speaker 1: It would be very difficult to be.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: I mean, Blunton Woodson at your corners, you know what I mean, that's insane. Yeah, Camon Green would be your d tackles.
00:19:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, who's playing center?
00:19:27
Speaker 2: Dirt came up as a guard. Maybe we'll cheat, yeah, right, But I mean, even like the Castro and Fanica are your guards, i'd imagine, I mean, they're not, You're not gonna have twenty two Hall of Famers, but your quote weaknesses are still really really good players.
00:19:43
Speaker 1: Yeah. For the forty nine ers, it's Cherry Rice. It has to be.
00:19:48
Speaker 2: It has to be, I guess. I mean it's kind of like lt amazing that he's on the list.
00:19:54
Speaker 1: But you know, the runner up in Montana Steve Young, Wayne Tittle, Joe Perry, and Hugh mclahaney at running back, Ronnie Lott and Jimmy Johnson at the cornerbacks, defensive tackle Leo Noamanelli and offensive tackle Bob Saint Claire.
00:20:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you got Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana, Steve Young, you know. I mean there's some great ones. There's some greatness.
00:20:16
Speaker 1: There were the Seattle Seahawks at Steve Largent.
00:20:21
Speaker 2: I respect that. That's cool. I would have taken Walter Jones, but it's a little bit of recency biased.
00:20:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's one of the runners up, as is defensive tackle Quartes Kennedy.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean they were an expansion team when I was six, so it's not like they're new, right. Ump out another one or two, you know.
00:20:38
Speaker 1: Or the tap Speaking of expansion teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers their Picks, Leroy Selman.
00:20:46
Speaker 2: I like the respect of Largent and Selman. You know, those teams were bad and took a while to get on get your feet at that point. Selman was a tremendous player.
00:20:56
Speaker 1: I will sap and this is now my problem with this. So the runners up are Derek Brooks, John Lynch, Ronde Barber, and Warren Sap m h. Four guys off the same defense that won one Super Bowl.
00:21:10
Speaker 2: I know, Like again, I think Brooks and Sapp are Hall of famers all day long. I don't think Lynch and Barber are.
00:21:18
Speaker 1: I would agree. I don't think they are either.
00:21:21
Speaker 2: And the fact that of honor and they're great, YadA YadA.
00:21:25
Speaker 1: But the fact that that defense has four Hall of famers, you know, and the you know, even this, the Steelers defense of the you know, early to mid two thousands has won.
00:21:38
Speaker 2: By the mid two thousands, I was like Steel Curtain only had five.
00:21:42
Speaker 1: Yeah. That Ravens defense of the early two thousand has two. Wow, you know, I mean those were those were defenses that were equal to or better than that Buccaneers defense. And Tampa Bay has four.
00:21:59
Speaker 2: Yeah. And the defense didn't last either. I mean it wasn't eight years of greatness, right, I mean, those players had nice long careers, but there was not an elite defense for you know, a decade. No, I'm with you, yeah, I mean, I know these are the cream of the crop. But Ronde Barber is a lot different than me than woodsent Er.
00:22:17
Speaker 1: Blunt well, without a doubt, without a doubt. For the Titans slash Oilers, to pick is is Earl Campbell.
00:22:27
Speaker 2: Good.
00:22:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've had some other guys though. They have the runners up Bruce Matthews, Mike Munchak, Kevin and why the quarterbacks Warren Moon and George Blanda, Ken Houston, Alvin Bethea, Curly Culp, Robert Brazil. No championships among those guys.
00:22:49
Speaker 2: No championships. Campbell's pretty strong. I mean it's kind of like the Juice conversation too, of just dominant seventies backs. Yeah, Frank and Walter and those guys.
00:23:00
Speaker 1: And for the Washington Commanders, the pick is slinging Sammy Baugh.
00:23:06
Speaker 2: I guess yeah, I mean I was thinking Darryl Green, but Bob probably was the better career and the better position, you know. Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker 1: He led the league in completion perchance percentage eight times in completion six times, in yards per game five times.
00:23:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's pretty strong.
00:23:24
Speaker 1: Yeah. Plus he played, He played defense and led the league with eleven interceptions in nineteen forty three. Oh by the way, oh Jackson.
00:23:31
Speaker 2: Picking up baseball, you know, and I'm gonna pick off eleven.
00:23:34
Speaker 1: Passes and Andy led the league in punting five times.
00:23:39
Speaker 2: Oh, oh, by the way, never left the gold that's crazy.
00:23:45
Speaker 1: The runners up John Riggins, Darryl Green, Sam Huff, Sam Huff was pretty dominant, Russ Grimm, Turk Edwards, Charlie Taylor, Bobby Mitchell, and Art Monk.
00:23:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. Pretty good group, not great, Pretty good group, pretty good. Last nugget on this. I know we're gonna go roll, but behind me in my basement bathroom is the nineteen seventy eight Steelers team photo. You know how. They do it at three rivers in front of the scoreboard and a couple of lights are out on the scoreboard. So everyone on that team is there, And there are twelve Hall of Famers in that picture. And that doesn't even include the Rooneyes who're not on there, you know, I mean there's two Roonies working for the team at that point that ended up in the Hall of Fame, and that includes Chuck Noll.
00:24:30
Speaker 1: He also left out Bill Nunn.
00:24:32
Speaker 2: Oh right, right, good point. He would not have been that photo either. One that I'm kind of cheating but is a Hall of Famer. He's on that photo. Is Tony Dungeye right, yeah, yeah, there's a dozen in the picture.
00:24:44
Speaker 1: Not bad, not bad, not right considering, especially considering some franchises only have one or two guys.
00:24:51
Speaker 2: So one and one's in the division only as one. We're yeah, just skipped right over Houston. You got none the Titans.
00:25:04
Speaker 1: Yeah sorry, yeah, yeah, right, We're gonna take a break. He is Matt Williamson. I am dal Lawlly. You're listening to the drive here on Steelers Nation Radio. When we come back, Matt, since it is Friday, it's time for a little Friday fantasy football Monday here, So let's do that. We'll do a little mock draft when we come back.
00:25:23
Speaker 2: I like that. You like that?
00:25:25
Speaker 1: All right, we'll do that when we come back. He is Matt Williams, and I'm dal Lawi. You're listening to the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio.
